LAMM2.1 with Tannoy Westminster Royal SE Speakers

If you are looking for a good 845, I would recommend the Melody M845 monoblocks. There is not much info on them online, but with the right tube combination they can beat out the Sophia Electric 845 and are much more reliable. Bass is by far the best I have ever had and you also get all the magic that SET amps are known for. Recently I was able to demo a pair of the Melody's next to another well known 845 ($14,000 Audion Black Shadows) and it held its own remarkably well.

If you want to go the 300b route, then the Coincident Frankensteins or Wavelength should be at the top of your list.

If you don't mind a little noise, the Joule Electra Monoblocks are also stunning and the headroom, dynamics, and magic are there, but you have to get over the hissing of the amp.

Morganc ... I'm not familiar with the Melody M845 or the Coincident Frankensteins. I will go do some home work. Thank you for the recommendations.

Wylmars

I wouldn't describe it as " something missing " . I just think that the Sophia Electric 300B amplifiers offer a richer, fuller sound that has zero mechanical artifacts. Very natural sounding. I found the mono blocks that were reviewed to provide plenty of power for all kinds of music in a large room with 10 foot ceilings. Read the review that I mentioned.

Best
Jim

I own yorkminsters and have the sophia 845. Sounds beautiful together and has loads of power. Goes nice and deep with much more character than ss bass. I also built a pair of 300b that I run as well. They also sound good but feel like they are working on complex passages. They also don't dig as deep. 845 is the way to go in my opinion. And I woundnt go anything but set after getting used to the mids. I also highly doubt that melody845 beat out a 20k pair of Sophia's. Maybe in reliability :) I have had issues with transformer failure on my Sophia's but I was informed that I was the only one.

Analogluvr, you are not the only one who has had transformer failure on Sophia amps. There are many more, just check out on Google. Sophia is not very ethical in the way they hide their flaws.